Conference misery::feline_v1

2515.0. "Cat blamed for fire at Natick Village" by USSLKG::MTAG () Thu May 25 1989 18:25

    This is from yesterday's Middlesex News... reprinted without
    permission.
    
    STRAY CAT BLAMED FOR HEALTH CLUB FIRE
    Blaze at Natick Facility caused for $250K damage
    by David D. Saltonstall
    
    "A stray mother cat who found shelter for her kittens in a rooftop
    crawlspace near the roof of the Natick Village health club is being
    blamed for a fire that caused $250,000 damage there yesterday
    afternoon.
    "The cat and her brood survived the 12:45pm fire, which began after
    maintenance workers at the complex inadvertently short circuited a wire
    while removing the mother and her two kittens earlier in the day,
    according to fire officials.
    "And one of them was a black cat, too," said Deputy Edward F. Lombard
    of the Natick Fire Department, who owns three cats himself.  "Talk
    about starting out with badk luck.  I almost didn't pass it on the the
    chief because it sounded so ridiculous, but Iguess that's what
    happened."
    "There were no serious injuries in the fire.
    "Maintenance workers apparently noticed smode rising from the roof of
    the building about 45 minutes after they removed the cat from the
    building, officials said.
    "It is not clear how the animal was able to get into the crawl space,
    which was only accessible through a hatch inside the building. Fire
    officials surmised there may have been a small hole in the roof through
    which the cat could enter.
    "An employee at the health club, who declined to give her name, said
    she was unaware of the animals' presence.  Management officials at the
    816-unit Natick Village did not return calls yesterday, but fire
    officials said the animals were being cared for by members of the
    condominum's maintenance staff."
    
    [There is a little more to the article, but nothing more mentioned about
    the kitties.]
    
    Mary

    Geez!  With that headline i was worried that they had shot the
    cats because they blamed them for the fire!  Glad they have
    temporary homes at least, and that no one was injured.
      N
    

    Well, I'm not going to blame the cat.  Obviously if the maintenace
    shorted a wire when they were removing the cat, that means the wiring
    was faulty to begin with.
    
    They should thank the cat for helping them to notice their faulty
    electrical wiring.
    
    	-Nancy

    Good Point Nancy...I'm with you.